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A Silent Dominion
A Silent Dominion '''is a Story Arc of the the Exteria Multiverse. It takes place in Archanea and follows the perspective of the exiled Contractor Severa Linnasteron. It is a sequel to Tales of the Fae. Main Arc In a Chaotic World Severa, a Contractor bound to the Apocrypha Malediocrina, is exiled by Queen Anetta and faced with certain death. Desperate to feed her Apocrypha more fear in order to survivre, she planeswalks instinctively towards the capital of '''Sercilius, a small country, arriving when the previous queen dies. Seeing her appearance as a sign of miracle, the people of the country crown her new queen of Sercilius. After her crowning, Severa begins to quickly grasp the social and military situation, seeking to increase her kingdom's influence while consolidating her own popularity and dominion. Alongside her butler Jerome - a cynical yet elegant servant with a taste for power and tactics - she begins to study her ways to increase her influence, as the kingdom of Theania holds much more influence than her. Before she truly sets up her plans, Schaden Chancellor Freya Schad Losworth visits her, offering a tactical alliance and a temporary truce between their two countries. Worried about Freya's cold, smiling, calculated behavior, Severa accepts nevertheless, as she does not have the leisure to refuse such a powerful ally. She then makes her move by contacting Dhampir queen Valla Tepes of Grimmwald, granting her her superior financial resources in exchange for Valla's military prowess. Plans in the Dark As Severa consolidates her position, growing closer to Jerome and acknowledging him as her personal tactician, she begins to fear Freya has already struck. Jerome quickly searches the kingdom for spies and finds out servants have already been bribed. Most of those commit suicide except for one, Munica, who is then interrogated. Munica promises that she has no ill intentions and wanted to help Freya and Severa cooperate. Severa invites Freya to her castle and berates her, attempting to shatter her pride, but Freya only smiles at the insults and degredation, before telling Severa that a mysterious woman needs her help in the south of her kingdom. Freya then leaves serenely, leaving an angered Severa with her words as the only clue to understand the chaotic situation. Severa goes south and finds singer Genevria Ananke, a blessed individual with the ability to slow down her Apocrypha's influence. Although Malediocrina asks Severa to kill Genevria, she refuses. Genevria expains she was hunted by strange warriors from another country - from the description, Jerome deduces they are Toltikian warriors - avid hunters with a thirst for blood and an affinity for Necromancy. She further explains her aim is to prevent the resurrection of Anankos, an ancient evil. Searching for Allies In her sleep, Severa is visited by Anankos's presence, who labels her as "similar to him" and offers her release from her Apocrypha's pact and unlimited power should she kill Genevria. Severa hestitates quite a bit but ends up deciding she is the only one to choose her path and scorns Anankos's help. Soon after, a case of piracy is declared ; repeated maritime assaults weaken Severa's economy. To stop that, she decides to go to Hothnut in order to trade with Bashtet Sut, a powerful queen with an immense maritime force. She does so, and quickly becomes close to the Sphinx queen, whom she genuinely admires. Bashtet and her fleet join Severa in order to confront the source of the pirates : Valhan warriors, guided by dragon-tamer Brynhildr. But when Severa finds Brynhildr and seeks to confront her for her crimes, Brynhildr tells her she never pillaged any commercial route, but that Severa's own pillage forced her to declare war on her. The two understand they have been set up, by none other than Freya instead. Severa decides to go back to Sercilius and confront her ; she promptly declares Jerome her official ambassador, king and husband, and tells her to recruit more allies, while returning alone to Sercilius. The Black Pawns Move Severa finds a smiling Freya on her own throne, which infuriates her - as the chancellor taunts her, Severa brutally slaps her, seeking to break her facade. As Severa begins to agressively use her Apocrypha in order to attack Freya, a cold presence sweeps the room and a breath of deadly water strikes Severa, almost killing her. When Severa awakens, it is to the presence of young peasant Milly who nursed her back to life and helped her survive. Severa and Milly go back to the throne room where they learn that Freya has made her escape. The queen, understanding that Anankos is helping Freya and probably possessing her, returns her attention to Jerome and her other emissaries. She goes to meet them in the city-state of Rhodia, where regent Circea offers her help, identifying a threat in the person of queen Miztlu of Toltikia. Severa goes with Bashtet and the pair captures Miztlu, who acknowledges having ties with Freya in order to gain power and influence. Severa offers Miztlu a place at her side for when she "will become a goddess", to which Miztlu answers she bows to no god, and telling the other queen that if one of them becomes a god, so will the other. The two queens swear an oath of blood and unite. Check and Mate Now that all rulers but one are united, Severa goes and speaks to Gildia Radiant of Theania, her most powerful and threatening rival. Gildia consents to a temporary alliance to neutralize Anankos, and the group marches on Schaden, eliminating the shadow soldiers of Anankos and allowing her to confront Freya one on one. When she does so, Severa uses Malediocrina's ability to read Freya's mind and fears as the chancellor looks her in the eye calmly and serenely. Severa finds memories of a broken girl, abused and betrayed, her trust broken until she became the ruthless schemer she is now. However, Anankos is not within her. A weakened yet smiling Freya tells Severa Anankos was never within her, and laughs as she falls unconscious. Severa is then confronted by Munica, who was possessed by Anankos for several days. As Anankos, gloating as he has triumphed over all the rulers of Archanea, seeks to eradicate them all, Severa sacrifices herself to devour Anankos and erase him. Things however do not go as planned and Severa's soul is swallowed in the nexus between Anankos and Malediocrina. Guided by a melodious song, Severa finds Anankos's core and uses all her energy, deploying her full power as a Planeswalker to eradicate the monstrous dragon once and for all. As the dragon is felled, Severa ascends, becoming a dragon goddess in turn, and following her oath, distributes a part of her power to all her allies - queens or servants - and a greater part of her power to Freya, seeking to help the chancellor feel emotions once again and keeping her by her side as the pantheon's second greatest goddess. Characters * Severa Linnasteron * Jerome * Milly * Munica * Genevria Ananke * Gildia Radiant * Freya Schad Losworth * Circea * Brynhildr * Bashtet Sut * Valla Tepes * Miztlu * Anankos Trivia * This is the first story that directly borrows inspiration from the Fire Emblem game seris although the plotline is mostrly a homage to Civilization-type games. Category:Archanea Category:Storyline